


Every Hokage has a Guardian Ghost

by ThePackWantstheD



Category: Naruto
Genre: Afterlife, Gen, Ghosts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 05:17:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13629402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePackWantstheD/pseuds/ThePackWantstheD
Summary: "It's what we do," Tobirama said. "In life and death, the Hokage protects the village.""Protecting the village means spending the afterlife watching Naruto?""No," Tobirama said. "Protecting the village means watching over future hokages and doing your best to guide them down the right paths."





	Every Hokage has a Guardian Ghost

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place during Naruto's time training with Jiraiya!

Tobirama made himself comfortable on a small stone ledge where he could sit without losing his view of Naruto. He didn't bother following after him, not when he knew the boy wouldn't be wandering very far from him. Naruto was just going to one of the food stands further down the street they were on, finding himself something to eat while his mentor was at the bath house doing 'research' for his new book. The area was crowded, but now so much so that Tobirama had to worry about losing track of him.

He was considering whispering to the boy, trying to persuade him into eating something other than ramen, when he felt the air around him ripple. It gave the area around him a strange feeling, a sort of strange paradoxical feeling that the air around him was charged with life and death at the same time.

If he was still alive, Tobirama would have found it concerning, but he had been dead for a long time and it had become a familiar feeling. It was the way it felt anytime one of them teleported to any of their other charges.

He looked to his right, where he felt the ripple, expecting to find Hashirama or Minato.

Instead he found himself looking at Hiruzen.

"Oh," Tobirama said. He didn't know why, but time between death and ghostly resurrection was different for each one of them. Hashirama and Minato had both appeared almost immediately after their deaths. Tobirama, much like Sarutobi, had been gone several weeks before he reappeared. Tobirama had no idea why that was, though he thought it might have had to do with the connection they shared with those that lived. Hashirama and Minato both had a stronger connection to their charges than Tobirama or Sarutobi did. It drove Tobirama crazy that he didn't have a solid way to test that hypothesis. "It took you long enough."

Hiruzen startled a bit. He'd been looking around them, looking confused and disoriented by the shift from his last memory to their location now.

"Teacher," he said. He looked at Tobirama for a moment, a calm settling over his features. It looked as though seeing Tobirama was helping Hiruzen situate himself, helping him realize that his memories of his death were likely correct considering he was looking at a dead man. "Where are we?"

"Somewhere in Tea Country," Tobirama said. "Jiraiya is meeting with one of his spies, so Naruto is getting something to eat."

"What?" Hiruzen glanced around, searching for either of the mentioned shinobi. Tobirama saw the moment that his eyes fell on Naruto. "Why?"

"It's what we do," Tobirama said. "In life and death, the Hokage protects the village."

"Protecting the village means spending the afterlife watching Naruto?"

"No," Tobirama said. "Protecting the village means watching over future hokages and doing your best to guide them down the right paths."

"Future Hokage." Hiruzen turned away from Naruto, looking back at Tobirama. "He's going to do it?"

"Yes," Tobirama said, nodding a bit. "We think he's going to the Seventh."

"Two before him..." Hiruzen mused. "That's why you're the only here with Naruto?"

"Yes. Minato prefers to stick to Kakashi and Hashirama to Tsunade."

He asked, written all over his face, "Tsunade and Kakashi are going to become Hokage?"

Tobirama was thankful that his surprise about who his successors were had kept him from asking about why they split up the way they did. Having Naruto away from Konoha had put Tobirama in a better mood than usual and he didn't want to ruin it by explaining things. He didn't want to talk about how Minato stuck to his student instead of his son because it hurt too much to watch his son grow up without him. He didn't want to talk about how Tobirama had started sticking to Naruto, because Tobirama had always loved children, had always found them easier to be around than most adults, and he hadn't wanted Naruto to be alone. He thought about how much he had come to adore the boy and how angry seeing the way the village treated him made him.

He didn't want to talk about the fact that Tobirama loved his village, but he wasn't entirely certain that Konoha deserved a hokage as kind and caring as Naruto was. Not with the way they had treated him. He didn't want to talk about how there was a part of him that blamed Hiruzen for allowing that behavior to happen.

"Kakashi will," Tobirama said. "Tsunade is already Hokage. She's the Fifth."

"Tsunade as hokage," Hiruzen repeated, sounding like he couldn't quite believe it himself.

Tobirama glanced over at Naruto, checking up on his quickly. Even without Tobirama whispering to him, Naruto had wandered over to a yakitori stand instead of a ramen stand. He scanned the area quickly, looking for any threats. Naruto's training meant he was getting better at noticing other shinobi even without Tobirama whispering to him that he needed to be on guard, but he wasn't good enough at it that Tobirama felt incredibly comfortable leaving him alone when there was a threat he might miss.

When he didn't see an immediate threat, Tobirama pushed himself off the ledge. Addressing his student, he said, "I'll teach you how to move between the three of them so that you can see it for yourself."

Tobirama might have issues with Hiruzen regarding his treatment of Naruto, but Hiruzen was one of his students and Tobirama still cared deeply for him.

There were worst people to spend an afterlife with.

After all, if things had gone differently he might have ended up sharing an afterlife with _Madara_  of all people.

**Author's Note:**

> I've got a terrible head cold, but reading MadaTobi made me feel better. It also made me want to write Tobi :]
> 
> So hopefully everyone enjoyed this and thank you for reading!


End file.
